Now More Than Ever
by daphrose
Summary: Sometimes she cried; he never cared. He had tried to kill her. No one said it was going to be easy. She didn't expect it to be. She knew what she had signed up for. But she didn't care. He was her brother, and she loved him. She vowed to be there with him every step of the way, no matter how heartbreakingly painful it was. (Sequel to "By Reason of Insanity.")
1. Chapter 1: I Know

**And the results were 24 to 5, in favor of a sequel. I also personally decided that there was a lot more to Chase's story, and I wanted to be the one guiding you through it. Some of you said no, and I appreciate your honesty! I even got one or two very good reviews about why they thought I **_**shouldn't **_**write a sequel. Thank you!**

**I will say this: Don't expect this story to be any happier than the one-shot that went before it. I'm not really planning on resolving anything; just expanding the world and showing you the reactions. This is still in the tragedy genre. If you're looking for a good cry-your-eyes-out kind of story, you found one.**

**This is a sequel. If you haven't read "By Reason of Insanity" . . . well . . . you won't be totally lost, I suppose, but I would suggest reading that first. This story is slightly AU and pretty OOC (some characters more than others). It's meant to take place **_**after **_**You Posted What?!**

**Remember, no Brase/Bradam/Chadam in this story. Certainly not in a romantic way. Just fluffy sibling moments. Capisce?**

**This story deals with some very serious issues. I don't want to make light of what happened/what is going on here. If I'm doing anything wrong, let me know so I can fix it. I want to make sure I'm not disrespecting anyone with this story. On that note, special thanks to amichele and j. liz. 8 for being creative consultants on this story. They helped me with a lot.**

**So grab a box of tissues and drag your boyfriends in here so you'll have a shoulder to cry on. Chapter 1 of "Now More Than Ever" begins now.**

**I don't own Lab Rats.**

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><p><strong>* * * Chapter 1: I Know * * *<strong>

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><p>"Adam. Adam. Adam!" Every word was punctuated by harsh knocks on the glass wall of my brother's capsule. "Wake up!" No response.<p>

With a sigh I walked over to the computer along the edge of the wall. "What was that button again?" I murmured to myself. "Ah, here it is."

About ten gallons of water were suddenly dumped unceremoniously onto my older brother's head. He woke up abruptly, gasping and spluttering. He looked around, noticed me, and shouted, "What was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up," I said curtly.

"Wait, I thought today was Saturday." Adam gasped loudly. "Did I sleep through the whole weekend?"

"No, today is Saturday."

"Then why did you wake me up?"

"Remember what we were going to do today?"

"Oh." Adam leaned back against the wall and wiped the wet hair out of his face. Slowly he exited his capsule. He shook himself off like a dog and I attempted to dodge the little bullets of water flying everywhere.

"We need to go soon," I said. "Come on, get dressed."

"I don't want to." Each word was said very forcefully. I sighed.

"Adam . . ." I tried to say.

"I . . . don't . . . want . . . to."

"You said you would!"

"Well, I slept on it, and I changed my mind."

"He needs us."

"I don't care."

"You really don't care? Really? Truly? Spit it out, Adam. Why don't you to see him?"

"Because it won't be _him_!" Adam shouted. "And I'm surprised that you of all people are defending him, Bree! Didn't he point a _gun _at you?"

Involuntarily my heart rate sped up and the breath hitched in my throat. I blinked back the tears and, while trying to keep my voice from wavering, replied, "I know he's changed. But he's still our brother. We still need to be there for him."

"But Bree . . ."

"I don't understand this. Don't you love him at all?"

Adam looked down at his feet. For the first time in my life, I think my brother truly looked heartbroken. Here was Adam, our always optimistic, cheerfully naïve, and someone dimwitted older brother, and he looked like he was about to cry. For that matter, so did I. But Adam was supposed to be the strong one. Why did he look like he was about to break?

"That's why I don't want to see him," Adam said quietly. "It hurts too much. He's supposed to be my little brother, and he's locked up in that crazy house."

"You've gone before."

"So have you. You know why I don't want to go back."

I took a few cautious steps towards my brother and put a hand on his arm. "Dr. Nelson told me that we might be able to give him hope," I whispered. "He can get better. And he'll get better faster if we're there with him every step of the way."

Adam jerked his arm away from me. "I can't. Every time I look at him . . ." Adam sighed. "I was there, remember?"

"I know," I said gently.

"I saw him break down."

"I know."

"I saw him holding the gun."

"I know."

"I saw him point it at you."

"I . . . I-I know."

"It hurt. It really, really hurt. I can't get that image out of my head. That image of _you_. You were so scared. You were too scared to do anything."

"I know."

"You were completely frozen on the spot. And if the police hadn't shown up right at that moment, you . . . you wouldn't be here today."

"I know that, Adam!" I yelled. "I know! _I _was there too! _I _was the one he pointed the gun at! _I _was the one who was scared and so stunned with disbelief that I didn't realize what my own baby brother was about to do to me!" The tears were flowing freely down my cheeks now. Frankly, I felt like I _had _been shot in the heart. Only this was worse, because I was still alive in the midst of all the pain.

Everything started spinning out of control. Tears flowed faster and harder until they were racking sobs. I buried my face in my hands and my brain felt fuzzy. My knees were weak and I thought I would drop to the floor at any moment.

All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. I melted into Adam's warm embrace, not caring what a mess I must have looked like. I buried my face into Adam's chest and he stroked my hair.

Eventually my sobs quieted a bit. Slowly Adam released me. I wiped my cheeks and gave a half-hearted smile. I was glad to know that my big brother would always be there for me. The only thing that hurt was the fact that there should've been someone else to wrap our arms around.

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><p>I pushed open the door and walked into the small room. Adam followed me reluctantly. The room looked the same as the last time I came. I realized there was only one chair. That was fine; I didn't feel like sitting, anyway.<p>

Adam and I glanced at each other nervously, wondering who would make the first move. Simultaneously we looked at our younger brother. He was at the foot of the bed, his back against the wall. His knees were drawn up to his chest and he was staring up at the ceiling.

"Chase?" I said quietly. "Chase?"

"Chasey?" Adam tried. I looked at him. Adam only used Chase's childhood nickname when he was genuinely frightened.

Finally Chase looked over at us. He blinked a few times. "You both came," he said curtly.

"We want to be here for you," I said simply.

Chase glanced over at Adam. "He doesn't want to be here," he said.

"I came for my little brother," Adam said.

"You came . . . for your bother . . ." Chase repeated slowly.

"How have you been?" I asked, trying to get a good conversation going. Though with Chase that seemed difficult these days.

"You asked that before," Chase said. "You always ask that . . . like a loop. Everything is one big loop. Over and over and over . . ." Chase trailed off and stared at the wall.

I pursed my lips. Why did conversations have to be so awkward? I wanted so bad to know what was going through my brother's head; to understand what he was thinking. The haunted look in his eyes broke my heart.

"Is this the last time you're coming?" Chase asked suddenly. "Did you come to say goodbye?"

"No!" I said, perhaps a little too quickly. "I mean, I can't speak for both of us, but no." I looked back at Adam. His chest moved up and down with a silent sigh.

"We'll both be back," he said.

"Liars!" Chase spat, so suddenly that I took a step backwards. Adam reached a protective arm around my shoulders. "You don't want to come back. And why would you?"

"We'd come back for _you_!" In spite of myself, I couldn't help but be a bit angry. Surely his illness hadn't caused him to forget our love for him!

"Why?" Chase shouted. "Why would you even care?"

"You're our brother!" Adam yelled back. "And I've always loved you no matter how annoying you were! No matter how many useless facts you told me! No matter how often you made me feel stupid!"

I put a hand on Adam's shoulder and pulled him back a bit. There was the beginning of a dangerous spark in Chase's eyes; a spark I had seen once in my life and didn't have any desire to see again. For a split second I wondered if I should notify the nurses outside.

Instead Chase just leaned back. He closed his eyes and began to play with his fingers. He actually looked quite serene.

Ten seconds ticked by. Then twenty. And thirty. No one moved. Adam stood beside me, still tense. Chase looked relaxed, surprisingly, though I could sense the frustration brewing right beneath the surface. And me . . . well, I didn't know how I felt. I suppose it was the same confusion and pain as the last time I had seen my younger brother. I didn't know _how _to feel. I didn't know how to react.

"But you don't love me," Chase said so quietly it was almost inaudible. Still, in this silence you could've heard a pin drop. "That's what they say."

"They're wrong," I mumbled.

"I don't question them. I can't."

Neither Adam nor I had any clue who 'they' were. I made a mental note to ask Dr. Nelson about it sometime.

"I can," Adam said softly. "Bree's right. They're wrong. We love you."

"Don't lie to me."

"We're not," I promised.

Chase looked up at me with a mournful gaze. He honestly thought that we didn't love him. After everything we've been through in our crazy, messed-up lives, Chase didn't remember our love.

We risked our lives in an avalanche to find him. We saved him from being cooked alive by Marcus and Douglas. We stuck our necks out for him in school. We would die for him. But he didn't know that.

I liked to hope that maybe, somewhere deep down, he _did _know that. Chase knew that we loved him, but whatever was going through his mind was suffocating that belief. Adam and I had to keep it alive.

I remembered a movie I saw once where a character was being taken away from the girl he loved. They kissed for one last time, and as the enemy pulled them apart, she told him, "I love you."

All I wanted now was to hear Chase say, "I know."

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><p><strong>Those last few lines were a Star Wars reference. In case you don't know, in The Empire Strikes Back, Han was being taken away to get carbon frozen. Leia said, "I love you." Han responded by saying, "I know." Harrison Ford actually improvised that line, but I won't go into all my Star Wars geekiness right now. I just thought it would be a nice touch to end the chapter.<strong>

**I'm open to suggestions. Which characters should go visit Chase? The story will be from Bree's POV, but I'll have other characters' reactions as well. Who would you like? Leo? Tasha? Donald? Douglas? All of the above? None of the above? Are there any situations you would like to see or any questions you want answered? (Warning: I might not answer all your questions. But you can still ask them and we'll see.)**

**Also: Yes, Chase has a specific mental illness. A few of you know it already (I told a few people in PMs) but most of you don't. Who can guess it? The first one to figure it out gets a shout-out! Only one guess per person, though, or it doesn't count. I wanna keep this fair. :)**

**I waited until today to post the story for a few reasons. First of all: I didn't have it finished until now (kinda important!). Also, today is Billy Unger's nineteenth birthday. Happy birthday to him! Although that's not all I'm celebrating today. Turns out Billy Unger has the same birthday as someone very close to me. I've been celebrating October 15****th**** for years! XD Happy birthday to anyone and everyone who has a birthday today. Or soon. Whatever. :3**

**Before I go, I want to say a special thanks to RandomGirl for giving me some wonderful points on why I shouldn't write a sequel. Thank you so much for your honesty! But she also encouraged me to, "****Follow your dreams, do whatever you please," which will hopefully become her review jingle. And I'm not too busy to respond to a total stranger (or a reader. Thanks!). ;)**

**Wow, long author's note. Sorry. XD Are you still reading this? If you are, put the word 'kumquat' in your review. I wanna see how many people _actually _read these notes.**

**Alright. I'll see you all soon. When, I'm not sure. I've got to figure out what happens next in the story. XD Don't worry, I have plenty of ideas. I just need to order them. Let me know if you want to see anything. Review/follow/favorite if you liked it. Thanks for reading! See you all soon!**


	2. Chapter 2: Brothers and Sisters

**Hey guys! I'm baaaaaack! Sorry it took so long. Life . . . stuff . . . excuses . . . yeah. But thanks for the . . . the . . . the . . . **_**twenty-six reviews?! **_**Holy cow! Thank you all so much! You made my day over and over again. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you guys like the story!**

**And thanks for all the kumquats. :3 It's nice to know that people actually read the ramblings of some random teenage girl hiding behind a computer screen and writing about her favorite TV show. XD I feel so loved!**

**This chapter probably isn't my best, but oh well. It was the one I had the most trouble deciding on. By the way, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've EVER written Bree/Leo sibling fluff. As far as I can remember, anyway. Certainly with just the two of them. So let me know how I did!**

**Anyway, let's get on with the story. I don't own Lab Rats or Rubik's Cubes (guess what symbolism is returning this chapter?), but I do own Mrs. Lebowski. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>* * * Chapter 2: Brothers and Sisters * * *<strong>

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><p>Awkward silence. It wasn't unusual, not by a long shot. Still, it was uncomfortable. I took a deep breath and fidgeted just a bit. At least he had talked some. Not a lot, but some. Most of it was incomprehensible. Nevertheless, he had talked to us and I was happy.<p>

"What's it like?"

The comment from my step-brother made me start. I turned and glared at him, but he just shrugged. I had a silent argument with him with my eyes. How could he say something so callous?

"Bree, it's fine." Chase's sharp voice made me turn. "Leo can say whatever he wants. He has a right to."

"But you don't have an obligation to answer," I reminded him, shooting one final 'I'm-going-to-kill-you' glare at Leo.

"You know those cuckoo clocks?" Chase said. "They just spring out all crazy-like at random times."

"Actually, aren't most cuckoo clocks set to go off at a certain time? Like every hour?" Leo asked.

Chase stared at him for a few seconds before continuing, "They come out and sing. Sing, sing, sing. But sometimes things fall. Fall, fall, fall."

"And?" Leo prompted.

"Things are fragile." Chase stared at the wall across from him. His eyes held a glazed over look and I could tell that he wasn't on our planet anymore. "But when things break, they can't be fixed. Not really. They'll never be whole again. We try, but it doesn't work. This whole world will just fall apart, and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"That's not true," I said quietly. He wasn't meant to hear that sentence, but somehow – even with his super-hearing blocked – he was able to.

"It is!" Chase insisted. "Didn't you see it, too? All our missions? Everything? The world is a complete mess. I saw people die. I was _responsible _for people dying. When I wasn't good enough." Chase's face hardened and he whispered, "Because I'm never good enough."

"Chase, you're great," Leo said suddenly. "I don't know what you think about yourself – from what you've been saying, it's not anything good – but you're a fantastic person. You're an amazing brother and . . . and we've been through so much together. We had so many good times!"

"What's the point?" Chase said harshly. He drew his knees up to his chest and glared at us. "What's the point of anything?"

"Maybe to love other people," I said. "Like we love you."

"How can you love someone who doesn't even love himself?" Chase muttered with his face practically buried in his knees.

"It's hard," Leo said.

"That's why we need you to love yourself," I added.

"I can't," Chase said. "I tried. They won't let me. They say I'm horrible."

"And they're right?" I asked.

Chase looked at me with sad eyes. His brown hair had grown even longer and fell into his face. He looked like a scared little child and my heart went out to him.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to my left to find Leo looking at me. "Can you give me a minute alone with him?" he asked quietly.

I nodded numbly and started to walk out the door. "Bye, Chase." All I got in response was a stare – still, it was more than I had ever gotten before.

Out in the hallway, I looked at the art that lined the walls. Somehow the people who worked here managed to make the place a bit more bearable with all the artwork. The pictures had been drawn by patients, which made them extremely intriguing to look at.

Colors and lines ran together in several beautiful displays. I cocked my head as I studied them. It was neat to see the ways that the mental patients interpreted life. Sometimes it seemed like they had a deeper understanding of the world that no 'sane' person could ever grasp.

The picture my brother had drawn of the multi-colored Rubik's Cube still hung directly opposite the door to his room. I had looked at it every time I had been here, but I still looked at it again. For the first I realized something I hadn't noticed before.

On Chase's painting, there were no colors that could be considered 'drab' or 'dull.' There was no white, no black, no brown, and no grey. No shades of those colors, either. It was all 'happy' and vibrant colors like yellow and pink and orange. I wondered if that had any significance at all.

"Bree?"

I turned at the sound of my name being called to see one of the nurses right behind me. I grinned at her. "Hi, Mrs. Lebowski," I said.

"Come to see your brother again?" she asked.

"Yes, I did. My step-brother came too, and he's in there with Chase right now."

"It's good that you're so devoted to seeing him."

"I want to be there for him."

I had met Mrs. Lebowski a few times before. She was very sweet. She wasn't extremely old; around her late twenties to early thirties. From conversations I knew that she had two young children. Mrs. Lebowski certainly had that motherly touch. In a way she reminded me of Tasha.

"I'm not here all the time, and I'm no medical expert," I said after a pause. "How has . . . how has he been doing?"

"He's been doing okay." There was something in the nurse's voice that made me think she was keeping something.

"Just 'okay'?"

"He's . . . he's not responding to his medication as well as we had hoped. It will just take a bit more time. Schizophrenia can be managed."

I bit my lip at the mention of Chase's condition. Somehow it hurt to hear it mentioned out loud. It was like ripping off a bandage; you knew it was going to hurt, so you didn't want to do it. You'd rather just deny it altogether.

Just then, Leo walked out of the room. He gave a half-hearted grin and then waved at the nurse. Mrs. Lebowski smiled and asked if he was done. When Leo told her he was, she said goodbye to us and went into Chase's room. Leo and I turned to walk out of the building.

Once we were in the parking lot, I opened Mr. Davenport's self-driving car with my thumbprint and got into the driver's seat. Leo got in on the other side. I programmed the car to go home and it started up.

"Hey, at least it doesn't consider you a child anymore," I joked with Leo.

His lips twisted up in the faintest hint of a smile, but beyond that I got no response out of him. I frowned.

Leo looked down at the dashboard and said quietly, "He's so messed up."

"I know." I looked out the window as the car got onto the freeway. There was no traffic, so it wouldn't take long to get home.

"It's just that . . . I don't even know how to talk to him anymore! He's so quiet and when he does say something it's so . . . so . . ."

"Strange," I mumbled.

"Exactly." Leo glanced over at me. "Honestly, he scares me, Bree."

"He scares me too. He pointed a gun at me, remember?"

"For once I'm glad that Trent decided make me come to school early for 'extra gym work' all the way up until classes start. I don't know what I would've done if I had seen that."

"Me neither. If I had been one of the people watching . . . I'm not sure what I would've done."

"It's not something you've ever supposed to think about."

"Not at all. 'What if my younger brother picks up a gun and tries to shoot me?' was never on any emergency preparedness plan I've seen. Still, I can think of a few ways it could've been worse."

"Really? How?"

"If he had pulled the trigger, for one. But . . . I think it would've been worse if he had tried to shoot Adam . . . or you."

"But he tried to kill you! How could that possibly be worse?"

"Because then I would've had to live without you. I couldn't bear that. The other awful that could've happened that day would have been Chase shooting himself. If that had happened . . ." I trailed off and started to play with my fingers.

"I feel like we've lost him anyway."

"Which is why I want to do anything I can to get him back."

"Yeah. We've gotten through lots of stuff before. We'll get through this too."

Leo reached over and patted my shoulder. I took a deep breath. Without warning I reached out, grabbed my brother, and pulled him into a hug. For a second Leo seemed shocked, but he quickly returned the embrace.

"We'll get through it together," he whispered in my ear.

"Thank you so much, Leo," I replied.

"Anytime."

"No, not just for this. For everything. For everything you've ever done for us. You showed us the world and I will always be grateful to you for that. Even if you can be kind of annoying sometimes, and you mess things up a lot . . ."

"Hey!"

"You're seriously an awesome brother. I'm so glad you're in my life."

I squeezed Leo and slowly let go of him. We leaned back as the car got off the freeway and started taking the smaller roads to get home.

"Well, I'm impressed," Leo said. He grinned – and I mean genuinely grinned. We didn't see many of those anymore. It looked good. "You're being pretty sappy today."

"You tell anyone I said those things and I will make your life a living nightmare," I hissed, giving him a quick punch in the arm.

"Ow!" he whined, rubbing his bicep. I gave him a small grin to let him know I was joking – well, half joking, anyway.

The car reached the house and announced that we had arrived at our destination. The doors unlocked and we stepped out. As we exited the car and began to walk back to the house, Leo and I shared a smile over the top of the sleek frame of the car. We would get through this . . . together.

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><p><strong>So again, probably not my best. Oh well. And hey, we finally figured out what Chase has! So, I <strong>_**think **_**Dirtkid123 was the first one to get it. If you meant **_**schizophrenia **_**(took me a long time to learn how to spell it, too), then yes, you got it right! AllAmericanSlurp and Lady Cougar-Trombone got it as well. Congrats!**

**I believe I've figured it out: there will be six chapters to this story. And this is chapter 2. So, four more. I already know the title of chapter 3: "They." :) Sound exciting? Once this story is over, I'll be posting a new **_**massive **_**project called 'We Deserve Freedom.' I hope you guys will read it once it comes out! And for those of you who have been waiting patiently for a month and a half . . . Daddy's Little Lab Rats will be updated later today. Hooray! I'm back in the writing mood. Thank goodness!**

**So, was it okay? What did you think? Did you like the Leo/Bree moments? And remember, it's not romance, it's just sibling bonding! Siblings do that! It's rare, but they do! I swear!**

**Hopefully the wait until chapter 3 won't be as long. I have a pretty clear idea for what I want to do. See you all soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: They

**This chapter is short and late. Meh. Do I have to keep apologizing? On the bright side, when I **_**do **_**post We Deserve Freedom, I've got eight chapters ready to go (after some revision, of course)!**

**Has anyone else not been getting emails from Fanfiction? Because today I went into the Lab Rats archives and saw that **_**five **_**stories that I'm **_**following **_**were updated, but I didn't get alerts. I got an alert that someone followed a story of mine, but after research I discovered that they favorited it and me as well, but I didn't get emails about that! Urg. Sorry for my little rant. Is it just my email, or has anyone else been having this problem too?**

**Please, **_**please **_**let me know if I have gotten **_**any **_**information wrong about schizophrenia. I have researched it thoroughly and am doing my best to present it in a realistic and serious manner, so if I'm doing **_**anything **_**wrong, please let me know. Thanks. :) This chapter also deals with some serious and possibly triggering things, so read at your discretion.**

**You guys have been wondering for a long time who 'they' are, so I will let you find out now. I don't own Lab Rats, just Dr. Nelson. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>* * * Chapter 3: They * * *<strong>

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><p>As the weeks went by and my visits became more and more frequent, I found it getting a lot easier to talk to Chase. I started to understand what would make him happy and what would make him cringe; what made him smile and what made him frown. Of course, I couldn't predict everything, but conversations weren't so awkward anymore.<p>

"We went out to dinner the other night," I said as I sat across from him. He stared back at me, appearing to be curious in what I was saying. "Leo was trying to get the ketchup bottle open, but he wasn't paying attention and he squirted it all over his pants."

"Was it red?" Chase asked.

"Yup," I said. "Really red. All over his yellow shirt, too. But Adam tried ordering a burger without 'onions, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, meat, and bun' as a prank. The funny part was that the waitress didn't even bat an eyelash, and when she brought out our food Adam got an empty plate!" I started giggling. "He wound up just getting a bowl of French fries."

"I haven't had French fries in a long time."

"They're still good. I just had a salad."

"With croutons?"

"Yeah. It was nice. We went to a movie after that." I started rambling about my thoughts on the action flick that Adam and Leo had insisted on seeing. It was cheesy, cliché, and yet my brothers loved it. Of course.

Chase didn't seem to mind that I was running my mouth. He stayed focused on me and nodded every now and then. It wasn't the same reaction he would've given six months ago, but it was a good reaction for him in the present.

Eventually, though, his attention started to drift. I could see it in his eyes. Chase was looking at me, but he wasn't _seeing _me. What he was seeing, I couldn't say. I would probably never know. I shifted in my chair and tried to bring him back to reality.

"Chase?" I said. "Do you want me to tell you about Davenport's new invention? He's been working on it all month."

Chase drew his knees up to his chest and pressed himself into the wall. "Quiet," he rasped.

I assumed he was talking to me, so obediently I became silent. It was easiest not to push him. For a few seconds we sat like that, everything completely silent.

"Quiet!" Chase said again. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I didn't say anything," I mumbled. Suddenly a cold feeling gripped my heart as I realized that he wasn't talking to me. But if not me, then who?

Chase looked up at me, fear filling his eyes. He mouthed a word. 'Help.'

I stood up immediately. "Are you okay?" I questioned him. "Do you need me to get Dr. Nelson?"

"N-No," Chase said shakily. Slowly he uncurled himself from his ball. He took a deep breath and met my gaze. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm . . . I'm fine now. They came back . . . back again, but I'm okay. It's okay. I'm fine now." Chase did his best to smile, but there was no heart behind it. It looked more like a grimace.

I swallowed. "Who came back?"

Chase squinted. "They came back," he said stiffly. "I just said that."

"And who are they, Chase?" I tried to say it as gently as I could.

My brother just gazed up me soundlessly. Then he began to shake his head. He whipped it back and forth wildly. Then he stopped and stared at me again. "They hate me," he said simply. "They're the ones who told me to kill you. And after I killed you, I was supposed to kill myself."

"They told you to do that?"

"Yes. They're the reason I'm in here." Chase stared out his window at the trees outside. But just like he didn't 'see' me before, he wasn't 'seeing' the trees now. "They hate me. They make everyone hate me. Sometimes they come, and sometimes they go. I can never tell when. But they're angry a lot. They don't like to be happy. Not like you." Chase blinked slowly. "You like to be happy, right?"

"I _like _to be happy," I told him. "But that doesn't mean I'm _always _happy."

"Well of course not," Chase scoffed. "But you try. You try a lot. They don't like you for that. They think you're bad."

"That's what you said before," I whispered. "They wanted me dead."

"But I like that you're happy. It makes life . . . almost worth living."

I opened my mouth to answer when there was a knock at the door. I looked up to see Dr. Nelson come in. "Hate to break this up," he said, "but visiting time is over, Bree."

"All right," I said glumly. "Bye, Chase. I'll be back next week, okay?"

"Bye," he mumbled. I smiled a bit. He actually said goodbye to me.

Dr. Nelson and I headed out into the hall. I glanced over at him and figured that if I wanted any answers, I'd better start asking for them.

"Dr. Nelson," I said, catching his attention, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Bree. What is it?"

"Well, I was just wondering . . . Chase has been mentioning someone called 'they,' and I was curious if you knew who 'they' were."

Dr. Nelson frowned a bit and narrowed his eyes. "As a matter of fact, I do. Here, why don't we go into my office and I'll explain."

We walked down the hall to another part of the mental hospital. Sometimes I had to tell myself that that was all it was: a hospital. Nothing more. They treated people here like anywhere. The people here just had a different kind of sickness.

The doctor led me into his office, which had meager furnishings. He sat behind his desk and I sat across from him, facing the window. It looked out over the trees outside. Funny how it was a similar view to the one in Chase's room, but this one seemed more . . . beautiful, somehow. Maybe because there wasn't a lock on the window.

"So who are they?" I asked. "He says that 'they' don't like me, and that 'they' told him to kill me."

Dr. Nelson sighed. "A common symptom of schizophrenia is auditory hallucinations," he said slowly. "Chase has this symptom."

"So that means?" I prodded.

"'They' are the voices in Chase's head."

I leaned back in the chair. "So he hears things?"

"Exactly."

"So they're not real. Or dangerous?"

Dr. Nelson frowned. "I wouldn't say that," he said. "They're very real to Chase, even if you and I will never be able to hear them. They certainly are dangerous. Like you said, the voices are what told Chase to kill you in the first place."

"That's who he was asking to be quiet," I mumbled.

"Auditory hallucinations are not uncommon at all in people with his condition. It can sometimes be like a constant chattering inside someone's head. There can be several voices or only one. They can be voices that the person knows or someone they don't know at all."

"Do you know what Chase's sound like?"

"He hasn't told us."

"But he's mentioned 'them' to you."

"Yes he has. And we've been working to help him feel better. Usually the medication works . . ." Dr. Nelson trailed off.

I raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not at all," Dr. Nelson assured me, but I still felt a little bit uneasy. "Just make sure you're careful around Chase when you're talking about 'them.' They _are _real to Chase. He can hear them, and they will tell him to do things. A lot of these voices are constantly saying that he should kill himself."

I felt a chill go through me as if I was standing out in the wind. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. "But you make sure he doesn't, right?" I asked.

"Of course. That's why he's here; so he won't hurt himself or others."

_Others. Others like me._

"I don't like 'them,'" I mumbled.

Dr. Nelson sighed again. "Neither does Chase."

* * *

><p><strong>If you're into that kind of thing, why don't you try comparing the way Chase explained 'them' and the way Dr. Nelson did? Isn't it interesting how different the explanations were? Thank you, I try. *bows* And now you know who 'they' are! Yay!<strong>

**So, I hit a pretty huge milestone this week. I'm not saying this to brag, I'm saying this to say, "THANK YOU!" I have been favorited by over 100 people. :') I could not calm down all day. I was so excited! THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH to everyone who has favorited me or read any of my stories! You guys really mean the world to me!**

**There's one review I have to reply to right now (and mostly 'cause I can't PM her), but RandomGirl . . . OH MY WORD YOU REFERENCED VEGGIE TALES! My **_**childhood**_**! *dies of nostalgia* After I read your review, I spent a half an hour on YouTube listening to various Silly Songs, I kid you not. **_**And **_**I've had "I Can Be Your Friend" stuck in my head all week! By the way, if you ever need to borrow my minions to torture Kenny, feel free. Just remember that if not fed every two hours, they'll eat the nearest human flesh. So . . . just keep Kenny between them and you and you'll be good! :D**

**So hopefully you all liked the chapter! By the way, I'm **_**pretty **_**sure this will be the last time Chase is actually **_**in **_**the story until chapter seven, which is the final chapter. Just thought I'd warn you. The next chapter will be very serious, but it will also have a lot of nostalgia and sibling bonding stuff. You'll get to see how the rest of the world reacted to Chase going crazy. So hopefully see you soon for that! Bye everyone! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Raising Awareness

**Okay . . . I really, really, **_**really **_**hope I did this right. A **_**lot **_**and I mean **_**a lot **_**of research went into this chapter, so I genuinely hope I got it right! Thanks to the reviewers for explanations and suggestions. I sincerely appreciate it!**

**Internet trolls can be jerks. Keep that in mind while reading this.**

**And by the way . . . I don't have a Twitter account (or any other kind of social media) so if I got anything wrong, I apologize. I tried to keep it as vague as I could. I've also never made a video before. So if I got that wrong . . . sorry!**

**Soundtrack for this chapter: "I'm Not Who I Was" by Brandon Heath. Excellent song. You'll know when to start playing it. It matches really well.**

**So anyway, on with the chapter! I don't own Lab Rats, Twitter, or the aforementioned song, "I'm Not Who I Was" by Brandon Heath. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>* * * Chapter 4: Raising Awareness * * *<strong>

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><p>The house looked warm and inviting after driving through the Californian rain. The brown walls looked beautiful compared to those at the mental hospital. Sitting on the couch after yet another visit to my younger brother, I snuggled deep into the blanket and turned on the TV to a show that I was barely paying attention to.<p>

Donald and Tasha had gone out on a date night. Douglas was probably in the lab working on something. Adam and Leo had gone to the arcade. So I was left alone with the rain slamming sideways against the window and the noisy wind whistling outside.

Of course I jumped right on my phone, checking my messages. I opened up my Twitter app and scrolled through it. Since the world had found out about us, we were practically celebrities. I had a bunch of followers.

For some reason, I felt an urge to search for Chase's name. He had a Twitter account, but obviously he hadn't used it in a while. My brother had been a pretty big news story, and I wondered if anyone still talked about him.

As I scrolled through the tweets with Chase's name attached, my heart got heavier and heavier. Within a few minutes, I found myself very near tears. Some of the messages were so terrible I wouldn't even dare to say them out loud.

Adam and Leo burst through the door, chatting and laughing about something. I glanced up at them and they froze when they saw my face. "What's wrong, Bree?" Leo asked, rushing over to the couch. Adam followed suit.

"Look at some of the mean things people are saying about Chase," I said, showing them the phone. "It's terrible!"

"It's the internet, Bree," Leo said matter-of-factly. "People say what they want. That's why I've never searched Chase's name before."

"I'm sure there are some nice ones," Adam said optimistically.

"Not that I've seen," I sighed. "I mean, look at these! 'I am schizophrenic and so am I'? That's not even how it works!"

Adam looked at my phone. "'Those bionic freaks are a danger to society, and they're going to kill all of us . . .'" My brother trailed off.

"'See, government? This is what happens when you let dangerous cyborgs roam free,'" Leo read. "What?"

"They have no idea," I murmured.

"What does that word mean?" Adam asked, pointing at the screen.

"And we're done," I said, moving the phone away from him. Leo grabbed my wrist and pulled my precious device closer to his face.

"Wait, what about this one?" Leo said. "'I'm so sorry that happened to you, Davenports! I hope Chase gets better soon. God bless!'"

"That's great, but it's only one," I reminded him. "No one else seems to understand what we're going through. If only there was a way to let them know how hard it is."

* * *

><p>"Hello, world," I said slowly as I stared into the camera. "I'm Bree Davenport, one of the bionic superhumans you've probably heard about."<p>

I took a deep breath. After thinking about it for a few days, I had decided that I wanted to let people know exactly what my family was going through. Making a video was the best way I knew how.

"Most of you also probably know that my younger brother, Chase Davenport, went a little . . . well, crazy a few months ago. He brought a gun to school and tried to shoot me." I bit my lip. "It was . . . very scary. He had been acting strange, and I guess he finally snapped. I wouldn't know why until later, though.

"My brother suffers from schizophrenia. It's a mental disorder that makes it hard for a person to distinguish between what is real and what isn't. Chase has auditory hallucinations – voices in his head that tell him what to do – as well as paranoia and difficultly focusing on one idea.

"Lately I've noticed how many people don't seem to know about this. People think that schizophrenics are, like, psychotic or something. They're really not. Instances like my brother taking a gun to school are very, _very _rare. If schizophrenics are a danger to anyone, it's to themselves. An estimated 20% to 40% of schizophrenics attempt suicide, with 5% to 13% succeeding.

"Schizophrenia is a disease, just like anything else. It just affects a different organ: the brain. And the brain is so crazy complex that we haven't even _begun _to understand it yet."

I paused for a moment and looked down at my feet. "This hasn't been easy on my family, either," I continued. "Seeing my little brother change so much so fast really hurts.

"Chase has always been a really nice guy. He's just sick now, that's all. But he's really amazing and special and I probably wouldn't have said that a year ago. But now . . . now I'm admitting it to the whole world." I chuckled weakly. "I don't think you could ever understand what it's like until you experience it personally. I don't even understand it.

"It just hurts me that people are calling Chase a monster or a freak . . . things like that. I know he's changed, but he's still my brother."

I played with my fingers and bit my lip. Mr. Davenport was going to kill me for this. Whatever. People already knew about our bionics anyway. What was the harm?

"I'm going to show you some pictures that no one has ever seen before. They're of me and brothers when we were young. Some of them were taken before we had even entered the real world. I thought it might help you to see what Chase was like. This is me and my family. Enjoy."

I stopped the camera and sat down at Leo's mission specialist desk to use the computer. I pulled up the soundtrack that I wanted to use for the slideshow. It was a song called "I'm Not Who I Was" by Brandon Heath. It seemed perfect.

Scrolling through the photos, I picked the ones I wanted to show the world. They were all of us in the lab before Leo discovered us. Mr. Davenport had given Adam a camera for Christmas the year I turned seven, and we still had the photos buried somewhere deep in the files.

The first several pictures were blurry because Adam hadn't figured out how to work the camera. It took a lot of scrolling before I found some presentable photographs to use.

The first picture was of Chase and me sitting together and smiling into the camera. After that there was one I had taken of Adam and Chase together. Then Mr. Davenport had graciously taken one of all three of us. It was of the few moments in our very early childhood where he seemed like a real father.

Skipping through more useless photographs and years of none, I found a photo of a nine-year-old Chase using his force field. His face was determined and his brow shiny with sweat. He wasn't even looking at the camera. Mr. Davenport was in the background, apparently coaching him.

There was another one of him sitting on the bench and guzzling from his water bottle . . . while Adam was lifting the bench into the air. Yet another had me and Chase in a race up and down the rock wall. My instructions had been not to use my super speed, since that would be cheating. For the record, I beat Chase anyway.

As I went through the photos that Adam had taken just after he turned thirteen – he had gotten a new camera that year – I found one that looked pretty silly. I was sitting on the ground with my legs crossed. Right above me, perched on the cyberdesk, was Chase. He was lying on his stomach and supporting himself with his elbows. His face was twisted and he had his tongue stuck out. While I was a picture of elegance, my little brother looked absolutely absurd. In spite of myself, I laughed. It echoed through the emptiness of the lab and made me feel a bit warmer on the inside.

Skipping ahead several years, I found a picture that I obviously had taken. Adam – who at the time was sixteen – was sitting on top of fourteen-year-old Chase. My younger brother had an angry look on his face as he tried to push Adam off. Another picture taken mere minutes after that was Chase glaring at me with his arms folded across his chest. Adam was in the background, doubled over with laughter. Even though Chase was clearly mad, there was a hint of a smile on the corner of his lips.

The next picture had a different setting than all the rest. It had Adam, Chase, Leo, Mr. Davenport, Tasha, and I on the couch in the family room. Tasha had insisted on taking our first family photograph. It took approximately fifteen times before we got one that looked acceptable. There was always someone squirming or blinking or looking away from the camera.

After that, the photos got even more interesting. Now there were ones that Tasha had taken to commemorate 'family memories.' There were pictures of so many of the events from the past few years since we had come out of the lab.

Leo's fourteenth do-over birthday party. Us at the beach during summer. Adam, Chase, and Marcus in the little band they had formed (it was a good memory, even if Marcus had turned out to be evil). Chase and Leo with their robot that had won the robot throwdown. All of us with Joey Logano at the race track. Our first Christmas together. Chase and I together at Tech Town. All of us gathered around Douglas, who was working on a laptop (he didn't realize we were taking a picture, and his expression was priceless!). Chase and Sabrina on their first real date.

The very final picture I chose for the slideshow was of Chase and me. We were sitting on the couch in the living room. His arm was around my shoulder. What I wouldn't give to relive that moment. At the time I had just wanted to edge away from him, but now I would've moved in as close as I could. I just wanted my brother back.

With a bit of editing magic, I put the photos into the order I wanted and got the song to play along in the background. Hey, I might not be a super-genius, but I'm still smart! I looked over the video one more time.

"That's good," I muttered to myself. "I hope this does it justice, Chase."

* * *

><p>"So there are still the trolls and the joke comments," I reported, "but most of them are actually pretty nice. A few people even said they'd donate to do research for it. There are some who have schizophrenia themselves, and they said thanks for making it."<p>

"I'm proud of you, Bree," Mr. Davenport said with a smile.

I looked up at him with a wide grin. I didn't know exactly why, but those words made me feel good. Really good. And it wasn't like Mr. Davenport had never said that before, but there was a special meaning behind it this time.

"I remember all that," Adam said with a slightly nostalgic look on his face. I couldn't blame him.

"Check it out! You even made the news!" Leo said, handing a tablet to me.

"'Bionic Teenager Speaks out on Brother's Behalf,'" I read. "That's awesome. I want to let as many people know about this as I can."

Mr. Davenport put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm really, _really _proud."

"Thanks . . . Dad." I faltered on that word, but I felt like it was an appropriate thing to say. Mr. Davenport smiled gently at me.

After a few minutes, the boys left the lab. I sat down on one of the chairs and clicked on the video to watch it again. When it reached the slideshow, I felt the tears begin to well up in my eyes. Gently I touched the screen that was displaying the face of my brother when he was only a preteen. "Come back to me, Chasey," I murmured. "I miss you."

* * *

><p><strong>So . . . NOT BRASE. XD Please no 'Make more Brase!' comments, because they annoy to me to no end (no offense). Hey, you'd probably act the same way if you found out your sibling was sick.<strong>

**I had this done a few days ago, but I've been a bit nervous about posting it. As I've said multiple times in this story, this is a serious issue, and I want to make sure I'm doing it right. I got my information from various sources (most of which I don't remember XD) including Wikipedia and WebMD. Oh, and one very helpful article from Vice that j. liz. 8 sent me.**

**What did you think? Did the song fit? I really like it. I loved creating all the photographs and childhood memories for the Davenports. It was fun!**

**So anyway, reviews are appreciated, as usual. And in case you haven't seen it, I posted my new story, "We Deserve Freedom"! I'm super-excite about that, so if you haven't seen it yet I would appreciate it if you could check it out. The next little part of this story will be a two-part. Next chapter will be part one! (Hint: it involves a mission.) Hope to see you then! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Leaderless

**Ai, it's been a while, huh? I'm sorry. But I'm back now! Part two of my mass update is here! Next comes A Different Kind of Hurt (a one-shot), the second part of Walls, and a new chapter of We Deserve Freedom. Yay!**

**Get ready to laugh and cry. This chapter is a roller coaster of emotions. First mission without Chase, here we go! This isn't going to turn out well, is it?**

**I don't own Lab Rats, just the idea. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>* * * Chapter 5: Leaderless * * *<strong>

* * *

><p>"What'd you get for number nine?" I asked Adam.<p>

"Zucchini," he replied.

I shook my head. "Adam, we're doing calculus."

"Oh, so now vegetables aren't a part of math? What kind of world are we living in?"

I rolled my eyes. No wonder Adam and I were doing senior year _together_. No one was surprised when he didn't graduate the year before. Mr. Davenport was slightly disappointed, and Adam promised to work even harder this year. He was really trying, which was impressive. It was harder not having Chase around as our handy "calculator" or "dictionary."

"You know I'm only kidding, right?" Adam said gently. "Here, have a look at my paper. I just wanted to make you laugh. It doesn't seem like we do that very often anymore."

Adam was right. I was glad that he could bring humor into any situation. It was one of the best things about him.

I quickly skimmed Adam's paper and was shocked to see that he had gotten the answer correct. I grinned and handed it back to him.

"Hey guys," Leo said as he walked into the lab. "What are you up to?"

"Homework," I said without looking up.

"Quick, is zucchini an odd or an even number?" Adam yelled.

Poor Leo looked absolutely shocked. I put a hand to my mouth and attempted to stifle my laughs. "Wh-What?" he finally stammered.

"Is zucchini an odd or an even number?" Adam said again, his demeanor completely serious.

Leo turned to me with wide eyes. I bit my lip and tried to keep a straight face. "Adam, zucchini isn't a number," Leo said slowly.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Adam said, his face twisting up. "It's one of those weird math symbols that you place _next _to a number."

"I don't think so," Leo said as I completely lost it. I doubled over with laughter and it wasn't long before my stomach started to hurt. When I looked up, Leo was chuckling and Adam was grinning.

"Zucchini is a kind of squash and don't ask me how I know that!" Adam said quickly, holding his hands up in the air. "But if it _was _a number, I feel like it would be odd."

"Oh, and why's that?" I asked as my laughter finally died down enough for me to talk.

"Because the _word _is odd. I mean, listen to it. _Zucchini_. Zu-cchi-ni. Zucchini. Z-Z-Z-Zuccchini! If that's not odd, I don't know what is!"

"Okay, and would corn be odd or even?" Leo asked.

"Odd."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because of all the little kernels it has." Adam seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Are there any even vegetables?" Leo asked.

"Cucumbers. Just because they're perfectly straight."

"What about pickles?" a new voice asked.

Adam, Leo, and I all looked up to see Douglas and Mr. Davenport enter the lab. Neither of them looked too happy, although Douglas had a faint smile. My heart sank a bit. They had just visited Chase.

"Pickles are odd," Adam said. "They're just cucumber's sour cousin."

"Actually, there are sweet pickles—"

"No one cares, Douglas!" Mr. Davenport said gruffly as he moved to the other side of the lab.

"What's up with him?" I asked, pointing to Mr. Davenport's back with my pencil.

"He's a little worked up because . . ." Douglas trailed off and turned to face his brother. "Do you want to tell them or shall I?"

Mr. Davenport sighed and turned around. "You three, here, now," he said in a commanding voice. Adam and I dropped our pencils and walked over to him.

"What's up, Big D?" Leo asked worriedly. We could all tell that the information they had for us wasn't going to be good.

"We talked to Dr. Nelson today," Mr. Davenport said slowly.

"And?" Adam prodded.

"He thinks he knows why Chase isn't responding well to the medicine."

"I helped him figure it out," Douglas said with a smug grin.

Mr. Davenport pursed his lips. "Yeah, because this whole thing is your fault."

"Oh really?" Douglas said. "No, actually, it's because I happen to know a thing or two about medicine!"

"Yes, only _a thing or two_, and no more! You went to medical school for a week and a half before you were thrown out!"

"Hey, I was not thrown out!"

"Guys!" Leo shouted, silencing their arguing. "Would you please just tell us what you were going to say?"

"Yes, okay," Mr. Davenport said slowly. "So here's the deal: We have a big decision to make. Dr. Nelson thinks he knows how to help Chase get better, but we need to talk to you three about it first. It's not going to be an easy thing to deal with."

"This whole thing hasn't been easy to deal with," I pointed out. "I'm up for anything that will make Chase better." My brothers voiced their agreements.

"Well, this will change a lot of things," Mr. Davenport said slowly.

"Just tell us what it is!" Adam said loudly.

Why do things always happen at the worst time for us? As Mr. Davenport opened his mouth to tell us what was going on, the alarms in the lab went off. I silently groaned and hurried over to my capsule. The routine was burned into my mind by now. Adam ran to his capsule too as Mr. Davenport and Leo hurried over to the computers. Douglas stepped back and out of the way.

"This one's pretty serious, guys," Mr. Davenport said gravely as we stepped out in our mission suits. "There was a gas explosion at a factory in Wyoming."

"Wyoming would be an odd number too," Adam said.

Mr. Davenport ignored him. "There are three people that they know for sure are alive and are still inside the factory. The building is still on fire. There's a lot of natural gas in the air, so you guys will need to wear gas masks."

I nodded, my brain becoming fuzzy. It had been a long time since we had been on a serious mission. Most of them were small, seemingly insignificant jobs that weren't hard to complete. This would be difficult. Gas explosions were dangerous.

Mr. Davenport handed us the gas masks and I shuddered. Why did they have to look so creepy? I felt like I was holding death itself in my hands. Reluctantly I slipped it over my face.

"Can I go on the mission this time, Big D?" Leo pleaded.

"Look, Leo, I've already told you! You're not fully trained! This is a dangerous job. Besides, we can't risk anyone finding out about your arm. Okay?"

Leo sighed heavily. "Yeah, fine."

"Trust me, Leo, you don't want to go," I said, my voice muffled through my mask.

Mr. Davenport prepped us on a few more things before I grabbed Adam's hand and sped out the door. We reached Wyoming in a matter of minutes. I stopped and we gazed in horror at the blazing building in front of us.

"I don't think my super speed will be able to put that out," I said into my earpiece.

"People are actually alive in there?" Adam asked.

"Yes!" Mr. Davenport's voice came through the device. "Bree, take Adam in and find them. And be careful!"

I nodded, even if he couldn't see me, and grabbed Adam's hand and ran inside. The blazing building was so hard to navigate through that I finally had to stop. Adam helped break down walls so we could get through. I was incredibly thankful that our mission suits were fireproof.

We found the first woman unconscious on some steps. I scooped her up in my arms and instructed Adam to find the others. When I got back outside, there were several fire trucks and ambulances. I handed the woman to the paramedics and hurried back into the building. I found Adam inside, kneeling beside a man who, like the other lady, was unconscious.

"Hurry, Bree!" he urged me.

"I'm going!" I said, fighting back the panic rising in my chest. The man was harder to carry. I had to sling his arm over my shoulder and run as fast as I possibly could. After dropping him off, I ran back in to find Adam glancing around in confusion.

"Where is the last person?" I yelled.

"She should be on the first floor, in the northeast corner!" Leo replied through the earpiece.

"That's where we are!" I answered.

"Bree, there's a door over there! Maybe she's in that room!" Adam suggested.

I nodded and we both ran to the door. Adam punched it open and we hurried inside. Sure enough, there was the third person. She was slumped in a chair in the center of the room. The flames were getting dangerously close to her.

As I picked her up and got ready to run out, the doorway collapsed. I looked on in shock as flames covered every inch of the walls. My heart sank further as I realized that we were trapped.

Adam approached the flaming wall and suddenly leapt backward. "No way on earth I'm punching through that!" he said.

"Adam, she's barely breathing," I said, motioning to the woman in my arms. "We need to get her out of here!"

"I'm working on it!" Adam shouted. I knew that he was trying to stay calm, but I could hear the terror hiding behind his voice.

"Chase would know what to do," I whispered.

"No, don't do this now!" Adam said. "Not now, Bree!"

Adam was right. I needed to focus. What had to be done here? What would Chase do? How were we going to get out? Adam and I would probably be fine in here for a little while (so long as the room didn't cave in on us) but the woman sure wouldn't be. As I breathed in clean air, I realized what I had to do.

"What are you doing?" Adam asked when he saw me fiddling with the straps on my gas mask.

"We live to save!" I said stubbornly as I yanked it off. I coughed at the rancid smell and thin air. As my eyes began to water, I looked up to meet Adam's gaze. "And we die to save, too." I slipped my gas mask over the woman's face.

Adam stared at me in disbelief and was about to say something when another part of the wall collapsed. This time it left a hole big enough to crawl through. Adam motioned me towards it.

"Quick, get her out of here!" he said. "You can fit through that hole!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, Bree! Hurry up, this is your chance! That hole could close any minute!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"What did you just say a few seconds ago? We die to save, too. Get out!"

I couldn't argue with my own logic. I crawled through the hole and Adam helped me get the woman through. Then I put her on my back and headed out. I got outside and started coughing furiously. The paramedics grabbed the woman and then approached me.

"Miss, you need medical attention," one of them said gently but firmly.

"No," I coughed. "My . . . my brother's still in there!" I reached for the woman and tried to pull the gas mask off, but I couldn't get undo the straps. I turned to look at the building behind me and saw it collapsing in several places. There was no time.

Despite the protests of the firemen and police officers and paramedics behind me, I rushed back into the building. Adam was in there, and he needed my help. I wouldn't lose another brother.

"Adam!" I called, coughing furiously every few seconds. "A-Adam!"

"Bree!" he shouted as he ran up. "Bree, you need to get out!"

"Not without you!" I said as he caught me in his arms.

"Fine, you have me. Take us out."

I tried to speed away, but found that I couldn't. I could barely stand. My lungs were burning. My brain was fuzzy and the world around me started to spin. "A-Adam," I muttered weakly before I lost control of my limbs. The last time I felt like this was when I had been exposed to the neurotoxin, but at least then I had been in control of my mind!

Adam cradled me gently. "Bree, come on, you're going to be fine!"

Tears stung the back of my eyes. I had only put us both in danger by coming back. The gas was getting to me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I couldn't super-speed us out. The ceiling was going to cave in on us at any moment. I tried to get up, tried to move, tried to speed. I couldn't.

"Adam," I whispered. "Adam . . . I . . . I'm tired."

"No, Bree, no!"

Adam's voice faded into the background as I let my head drop backward and my eyes close.

* * *

><p><strong>Woo! It's been a long time since I had to do research on asphyxiation. I believe the last time was when I wrote "Arcane Art." Oh, did I just write a cliffhanger? Haha, silly me. Now you'll have to scream along with Adam for Bree to stay awake, huh? And you'll have to scream at me to update. *waits patiently for angry protests*<strong>

**Turns out that research for gas explosions is hard to come by. I tried, but I'm not sure if I got everything right. So I apologize if anything seemed off. I did my best.**

**Well, that was a crazy chapter, wasn't it? Don't ask me where the odd/even vegetables thing came from. Sometimes I'm a little too much like Adam. O.o Maybe it comes with being an oldest sibling. XD**

**Hmm, what do you suppose Donald and Douglas had to say? Any guesses? I love wild theories. Or correct theories. I want to see if anyone gets it right. :3 You may just get a shout-out!**

**The next update for this story will ****_hopefully _****be soon. I'm not very busy anymore, at least I won't be for a while. I'll do my best to write and update for you guys. I know you want to know what happens. Stick around now for updates on my other stories, and I'll see you guys in a bit! Bye!**


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